that is not a very good argument. it is long past time to get rid of the debt ceiling and the modified mcconnell/obama plan is as good a way as any to do it. it gives lawmakers a way it avoid a fiscal cliff or fiscal curve. it can end flirtations with fiscal suicide. that the lawrence o'donnell. read my work at wonkblog.com. "the ed show" is up next. good evening, americans. welcome to "the ed show" from new york. republicans say they're laughing at president obama's fiscal cliff offer. i'll show you how they're really crying. this is "the ed show." let's get to work. >> there are no shortage of pens in the white house. and i carry one around for an emergency just in case, waiting for a chance to use it to sign this bill so people's taxes don't go up. >> the adult in the room continues his campaign to cut taxes for the middle class, and john boehner keeps shooting spit

balls. >> it was not a serious proposal. >> tonight the latest on the stalemate and the democrats' upper hand. mitch mcconnell gets downright ridiculous with his demands to weaken medicare. one of the architects of obama care dr. zeke emanuel responds tonight. house republicans pass an immigration bill democrats say is divisive and inferior. today, congressman javier on why the latino community won't be fooled. the nation's first fast food strike is a historic protest for workers' rights. tonight, what you need to know about the lowest paid workforce in the country. good to have you with us tonight, folks. thanks for watching. president obama knows his opponent is on the ropes and he's not letting up. the president took his tax plan agenda on the road today. he went to a philadelphia, pennsylvania, toy factory just north of philadelphia to focus on the people who will be hurt

if the tax rate extensions are not passed for presidethe 98% o americans. >> if congress does nothing, every family in america will see their income taxes automatically go up on january 1st. every family. everybody here, you'll see your taxes go up on january 1st. i'm assuming that doesn't sound too good to you. that's like the lump of coal you get for christmas. that's a scrooge christmas. >> president obama has been consistent in his message and demeanor. the republicans look more unreasonable each passing day. >> if we can just get a few house republicans on board, we can pass the bill in the house, it will land on my desk. i am ready. i've got a bunch of pens ready to sign this bill. >> while the president was turning up the public pressure

on the road, house democratic leader nancy pelosi played a card of her own. she gave republicans until next tuesday to vote on tax cuts for the middle class. >> if the bill, if there's no announcement of scheduling of the middle income tax cut, which by the way has tremendous support in the republican caucus, i think we would get 100% vote on it if it came to the floor. if it is not scheduled, then on tuesday we will be introducing a discharge petition, which you know if we could get 218 signatures would bring the bill automatically to the floor. >> oh, this is getting good. a discharge petition is a way to bring the bill to the floor for consideration without relying on house leadership. circumventing the speaker john boehner. mccain/feingold was kick started by this discharge position. petitions passed in the house twice before failing in the senate. gun legislation has also been passed thanks to discharge

petitions. pelosi found a way to get republicans on the record whether they like it or not. by next week, they will have to take a stand on tax cuts for the middle class. it's no wonder republicans are freaking out. >> this is not a game. we're not interested in playing rope-a-dope. we're interested in trying to solve the problem for the american people so that we don't see taxes go up on anybody, so we can engage in tax reform and get this economy going again. pier not playing a game. we're being serious. that offer yesterday was simply not serious. >> cantor was speaking about the deal presented to republican leaders yesterday by treasury secretary tim geithner. today the white house released details about that deal. in spite of republican claims of $400 billion in cuts, the deal proposed $600 billion in cuts. $350 billion in medicare savings and another $250 billion in additional cuts to other programs next year. house speaker john boehner basically lied yesterday when he said the white house had not offered specifics.

today he complained about those specifics. >> the white house spent three weeks trying to develop a proposal and they send one up here that calls for $1.6 trillion in new taxes, calls for a little -- not even $400 billion in cuts and they want to have this extra spending that's actually greater than the amount they're willing to cut. i mean, it's -- it was not a serious proposal. and so right now, we're almost nowhere. >> boehner offered the republican counter to the white house plan. >> our original framework still stands. instead of raising tax rates, we can produce a similar amount of revenue reforming the tax code to close loopholes and lower tax rates. >> no, no, no. republicans are not getting the mitt romney tax proposal. time to move on, speaker boehner. republicans are furious about the white house proposal.

senate minority leader mitch mcconnell told "the weekly standard" he burst into laughter when he received the deal. the new second ranking republican in the senate john cornyn also disparaged the deal. >> that's a crazy idea. i'm amazed that secretary geithner had the courage to float that yesterday. hence the laughter from senator mcconnell. i think that's the kind of response it deserved. >> well, they are laughing in public, but they are panicking behind closed doors. conservative writer matt lewis, writer for "the daily caller," he wrote "the notion that the republicans have leverage is silly. it's the same kind of happy thinking that led to some boldly predicting a romney victory." he ended the column by saying "republicans are so screwed." this is why president obama is playing to his strengths. the president has never had a problem rallying the american people to his side. >> understand this was a central question in the election. maybe thee central question in

the election. you remember. we talked about this a lot. >> republicans are furious because they can't control this conversation. americans know where they stand on tax fairness and republicans are on the losing end. it's been a rough week. get your cell phones out. i want to know what you think. tonight's question. who has the upper hand in the fiscal cliff negotiations at this point? text "a" for president obama, text "b" for the republicans to 622639. always go to our blog at ed.msn ed.msnbc.com and leave a comment. we encourage you to do that. we'll bring you the results later on in the show. i'm joined tonight by sam stein, political reporter for "the huffington post." don't you dare give me a hard time about the packers. let's get on to the important stuff. who is winning the conversation with the american people? what kind of week was it on the hill, sam? >> obviojectively you can say t president is winning this conversation at this junction.

these things change. a lot of this is posture. when you look at the circumstances that play here, it seems clear to me that democrats would be more comfortable going over the fiscal cliff. than republicans at this juncture. simultaneously, you have republic republicans, not just moderate republicans but real conservative republicans saying we have to do what the president wants to do on taxes. right now and debate the other issues later down the road. i don't see democrats doing something of similar harassy on their side. the president controls the game. he's in the driver's seat the next couple months. >> why are republicans dissing a $600 billion cut? why do they say that's not a credible proposal? >> this is the process of negotiation. it's laughable in some respects they think the administration would come at them with something in the middle ground. that's what the administration did with the stimulus bill. one-third of it was tax cuts. they said from the get go, we're going to give republicans what they want. we expect them to meet in the middle.

that's not what they did this time. this is where we are, we'll meet down here. republicans are going to do the same thing. they're going to say this is not a serious proposal. along the way, they are going to meet. it's going to be a proposal that doesn't have a trillion dollars in tax rates. >> some conservatives are encouraging republicans to go off the cliff. >> they obviously expect republicans will cave on everything. i think republicans ought to simply walk away. >> limbaugh said the same thing as well. is this political suicide for republicans? who would really pay the political price before the state of the union and on into the spring if they don't have a deal? >> republicans. i think matt lewis and his column got it right. they would pay the price. what they are essentially saying because we want to protect -- listen, it's a more complex argument. what it will be framed as, we want to protect the tax rates for the top 2%. we're willing to go off the cliff for that. i don't think there's a way you can spin it effectively enough that you end up winning the public relations war.

that's why i think you're going to probably get some form of deal before the cliff is hit. it might not encompass all this stuff and you might have to vote again, but i think they are going to come to the table. >> the discharge petition, sir cup venting the speaker and house leadership, nancy pelosi is going to take a petition around to every house member and saying, are you with us or not on this? i mean, this is theater right here. >> sure. >> will she get the signatures? >> that's a great question. we'll see. but this is part of a broader effort by democrats. so my reporting tells me the reason they put out that offer to boehner, the tim geithner offer -- >> do they have the votes? >> no. they want republic republicans to come with their own offer. they want the republicans to detail what they will cut. the same thing is basically holding true with pelosi here. they want to see the republicans record a yes or no on this tax proposal so they actually have to pay some sort of political price for their position. right now they're avoiding getting into the my nush sinuti.

>> the culture of this, you get a couple signatures and then it starts to steam roll. the media is on it it. >> what happened with the payroll tax cut. you remember this last year. republicans were like, we only want a two-month extension. forget the year-long extension. suddenly it snowballed and you had a mess on your hands. with respect to john boehner. he had to go back to his caucus say, listen, this is a tragedy for us if we continue. >> your prediction is she won't get the 218? >> i'm not going to go on a limb yet. >> wouldn't it be something if she did? wouldn't that be a repudiation of boehner and mcconnell? >> yeah, of course. it would resolve a huge chunk of this issue right away. keep in mind, the senate is sitting there and they have passed a tax cut extension program that the obama administration wants and it would essentially lay the groundwork for getting a quick fix to this fiscal cliff. they could then move on to the spending cuts portion. >> sam stein, "huffington post," good to have you with us. >> go giants. >> stop that. >> had to do that. >> giants are okay. i like the packers better. remember to answer tonight's question question at the bottom of the screen. share your thoughts on twitter @edshow and on facebook. we always want to know what you think.

coming up, senate minority leader mitch mcconnell says democrats need to raise the eligibility age for medicare? obama care architect dr. zeke manual joins me to talk about what will happen if the parties don't come to a deal. want to try to crack it? yeah, that's the way to do it! now we need a little bit more... [ male announcer ] at humana, we understand the value of quality time and personal attention. which is why we are proud to partner with health care professionals who understand the difference that quality time with our members can make... that's a very nice cake! ohh! [ giggles ] [ male announcer ] humana thanks the physicians, nurses, hospitals, pharmacists and other health professionals who helped us achieve the highest average star rating among national medicare companies... and become the first and only national medicare advantage company to achieve a 5-star rating for a medicare plan... your efforts result in the quality of care and service we're able to provide...

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coming up, senate republicans have used a record number of filibusters since democrats took control. john boehner over on the house side is fighting to keep it that way? we'll tell you what that's about all. fast food workers in new york city staged the largest strike in history in this city. we'll show you what they hope to accomplish with the walkout here in the big apple at the fast food franchise. and later, the white house releases the first bo obama christmas video. how about that? trust me, it's much better than the old barney cam videos that -- and we have the tape to prove it. share your thoughts with us on facebook and on twitter using #edshow.

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welcome back to "the ed show." thanks for watching tonight. republicans want democrats to do their dirty work when it comes to medicare. we already know president obama offered $400 billion in cuts to medicare, and other entitlement programs over the next ten years. here's andrea mitchell trying to get an answer from house republican jason shabbitz on where he has a problem with it. >> what about the $400 billion in medicare? is your problem with it that it's not specified? do you want to see a more

specific laundry list or produce a laundly list before he's going to come up with his? is this a giant game of chicken? >> that's what's unfortunate. speaker boehner is on the right track. speaker boehner is on the absolute right track. he's shown a willingness to talk about things that we haven't been able to talk about before. they need to sit down and hash this out. >> isn't that interesting? republicans won't answer the direct question because these aren't the kinds of cuts they are really looking for. in an interview with "the wall street journal" senate minority leader mitch mcconnell offered his wish list. higher health care, medicare premiums for the wealthy americans and an increase in the medicare eligibility age. he wants to slow the cost of living increases on social security. social security is off the table. on medicare, though, one part of the president's savings would come from increasing premiums to the wealthiest americans so there might be some agreement there. but raising the eligibility age for medicare recipients is an absolute nonstarter. the idea is unpopular and it's

also inefficient because it increases the cost to seniors without creating much savings to the government at all. here's the bottom line in all of this. house republicans have voted for paul ryan's budget twice. which turns medicare into a voucher program. that's really what they want to do. if they had the power, that's where they would go. and they're still holding that out. the idea is deeply unpopular with the american people in polls. and that has been shown time and time again. republicans want these kinds of cuts, but they would rather pin it on president obama than to take the blame. 8 i say bring it on. it does pencil out. let's turn to dr. zeke emanuel, tonight, senior fellow at the center for american progress and chair of medical ethics and health policy at the university of pennsylvania. and one of the architects of the affordable care act, which is now, of course, obama care. dr. emanuel, great to have you

with us tonight. >> thanks for having me. >> sort this out for us. the $400 billion on the table with obama care or with medicare that the republicans deny cuts. who's telling the truth here? >> well, the real issue is whether you're cutting things to beneficiaries or you're using those cuts to really transform the system to make it more modern. and i think as they did in the campaign, they are trying to say this will harm beneficiaries. but you can make cuts without harming beneficiaries. we at center for american progress actually released a report where we had $385 million in cuts to medicare and without taking it out of beneficiaries. >> so this is a valid proposal of savings of $400 billion. >> yeah. >> the republicans, of course, deny that. >> you can deny reality, but the president has put on a very bold proposal. the really important thing i would say is there's one way of cutting which is you just whack the system. take money out, make what you pay to doctors or hospitals less.

that's going to be important to do. but the real interesting and important thing is to try to transform the system going forward so that we're not spending increases well beyond inflation or the growth in gdp. that's going to be the key. >> so part of the transformation here would be to allow medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices the same as veteran programs? >> that's one possibility. there are various ways you can bring drug prices down. >> what would it do? let's say it was similar to the veterans program. what would it do? how much money? >> i'm not exactly sure what you could get, but we know, for example, there's over $100 billion by getting payment for drugs from medicare beneficiaries who are eligible, poor beneficiaries who are eligible for medicaid to get them in the medicaid program instead of the part "d" program. >> dr. emanuel, what happens if we don't have an agreement in washington, we go off the fiscal clear? what happens to medicare? what happens to the beneficiaries? >> well, we're going to have a very big whack at the system.

the important point is it's not going to be strategic. that's not a very good thing. it's not just medicare beneficiaries. remember, in the sequestration, lots of other programs get hit. you're interested in biomedical research and the nih, that gets hit. is you've got to be very careful here. plus, the republicans constantly say, well, we don't want to become like greece. what's driving off the fiscal cliff make us look like? it makes us look completely irresponsible as if we can't control our own spending and put in order some priorities. >> so there will be some real health care suffering if we go off the cliff, so to speak? >> that's absolutely true. i would say the other important thing we need to do, we want to incentivize doctors an hospitals to keep people well. not to just do procedures. and that is the key to really transforming medicare. >> all right. i want to show you a map of the states that are refusing to implement the insurance exchanges. it's rather interesting. the other states are either

implementing the exchanges or haven't decided to do that. if states don't decide to do it and the federal government comes in and sets up the exchange, isn't that kind of a win for the move toward universal health care someday because that infrastructure will be there? >> well, i think it provides people an option whether governors are refusing or not. that's the most important thing so they can get access to good insurance products. it also, i think, you know, it takes away the claim that, well, the federal government is, you know, usurping health care. the reason they stepped in is because states forfeited their option to actually do something. i also think we're going to have a very interesting set of experiments. california, colorado, maryland and other states that are going to this well are going to show the country, can you save money? can you improve outcomes? can you give people options they would like? i would look to those particular states as bellwhethers.

because they are really working on developing an exchange, running it well, the case of colorado interestingly enough, it's pretty bipartisan. you have people who want to make it work on both sides of the aisle. these could shame other states to come in. i also think we should be honest. out of 2014, there may be some bumps in the road. but remember, this is for the long haul. >> yeah. >> right? >> no doubt. >> you know, out of the gate. you know, it may not be perfect. but lots of software is not perfect right out of the gate but we use it and love it and it helps us. the same is going to help here. it's going to help millions of people get better insurance products that are cheaper. >> dr. zeke emanuel, thanks for coming in. appreciate your time on "the ed show" tonight. coming up, some senate democrats are trying to change the filibuster rule. house speaker john boehner issues a threat. the "nation's" john nichols will weigh in on that. republicans make their first post-election attempt at immigration reform. and just what did they do? they voted to limit legal immigration.

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and we are back. senate republicans, what have they done? they have repeatedly abused the filibuster to block common sense legislation that most americans, the majority of americans have wanted. for example, senate republicans filibustered the 9/11 health care act, zadroga.

it would have provided over $7 billion in health care funds to 9/11 first responders. a watered-down version of the bill followed, eventually passed. republicans hid behind these 9/11 first responders for years. they used these heroic americans to start a war of choice in iraq. then when they got sick from hazardous working conditions, senate republicans used the filibuster to deny them the proper health care funds they needed. republicans also filibustered the veterans jobs act. it would have provided $1 billion to help create over 20,000 jobs for veterans returning home from war. these brave americans, while they were sent to iraq and afghanistan and put their lives on the line every day to serve our country, then when they came home they needed help. republicans used the filibuster to say, no way. can't do it. and finally, senate republicans filibustered the bring jobs home act. you know, that thing about outsourcing, the act would have created a 20% tax break for moving jobs back to the united states. and it would have penalized companies for shipping jobs

overseas. republicans filibustered legislation that would have created jobs and helped the middle class. this one even included a tax break. and they still said no. remember, these are just 3 of 386 filibusters that the republicans have used to stop the obama agenda dead in its tracks. time and time again, republicans abuse this rule to hurt america's progress. senate democrats basically are sick of it. they're talking about this. they want to change this filibuster rule. majority leader harry reid wants the following changes. senators can't filibuster a debate. he wants a shorter time to break a filibuster. and he wants senators to speak out about their filibuster in public. these are not drastic changes. this isn't going to roll the senate over. the filibuster would still be a around, still be a tool. but house speaker john boehner is now involved. he says he's not impressed. he issued this threat. a threat saying that "any bill that reaches a republican-led

house based on senate democrats' heavy-handed power play would be dead on arrival." isn't it amazing how they just get along? this proves that boehner's do-nothing congress isn't concerned about moving the country forward. he will hold an american -- he will hold the american people hostage, you know, in the legislative process, to just block everything he possibly can to stop president obama's agenda? is that what america wants? do you think that's what they voted for? i don't think so. let's bring in john nichols, washington correspondent. of the "nation" magazine. good to have you with us tonight. there seems to be more and more conversation about this. let me play devil's advocate. why do this? why not let the republicans just continue to filibuster and let them politically hang themselves in the midterms? why do the democrats want to th this?

>> well if the theory was that you could let them hang themselves, then they would have already hung themselves many times over. the fact of the matter is the filibuster is not front-page news. it's not something that people generally pay attention to it. it's a procedure within the senate, and the republicans have abused it now ever since democrats took control of the senate. the concern here is not to get rid of the filibuster. that's the important thing to understand. what har ray reid and especially younger senators, people like jeff merkley from oregon, are proposing to restore the filibust filibuster. it's a very simple proposal. they it want to bring back the filibuster as it existed in "mr. smith goes to washington." they want it it to be like jimmy stewart where they had to go to the floor and stand on your principles. now, unfortunately, the filibuster is usually used secretly behind closed doors to stop debate to prevent us from even having a vote. that has nothing to do with what americans understand as a

filibuster and there is simply no reason to allow the abuses to continue. >> well, it means that if they were to filibuster, they have to go to the floor and do as you say, "mr. smith goes to washington," and talk endlessly until some conclusion. what do the changes mean for democratic bills, you think? >> it could mean a lot, because many of the bills that democrats have proposed have majority support. they can win in the senate. the problem is they can't get to the 6 o votes that would be required to break a filibuster or force a vote. and so all that's being proposed here is to say, look, if you want to do a filibuster, you got to be public about it, go to the floor, you've got to speak openly about why you don't want a vote to occur. if you can convince a majority of senators to block it, you win. it's just majority rules. >> what do you make of house speaker john boehner's threat

that anything that comes over to his side is going to be dead on arrival? you think this is going to affect anybody's decision-making process here now when they're talking about doing this in the senate? >> i certainly hope not. first off, john boehner ought to worry about his own chamber. we're supposed to have separation of powers even within the congress. the senate does its rules. the house does its. first off, he ought to keep his nose where it belongs which is in his own chamber. secondly, he's talking about punishing the american people because of a rule change in the senate that would occur after the fiscal cliff deadline. the senate will organize itself at the start of the new year. so boehner's making threats that really have very, very little to do with reality. unfortunately, that seems an awfully lot like a lot of his approaches to the whole fiscal cliff debate. >> john nichols of the "nation" magazine. great to have you with us tonight. have a great weekend. there's a lot more coming up in the next half hour of "the ed show." stay with us.

we are a country of unlimited opportunity. we want the world's best and brightest to come here. >> house republicans pass an immigration bill. congressman xavier becerra calls divisive and inferior. congressman bacerra is here to explain why, next. the nation's first fast food strike is a historic protest for workers' rights. >> the reason you're on the top is because we're holding you up. might as well appreciate us. >> the workers are fighting back, and we'll tell you what it's all about. and the white house debuts their first bo obama christmas video. but how does it stack up to barney cam? >> you and miss beasley can be junior park rangers if you want to, but you're sure going to have to learn about the national parks if you want to be a junior park ranger. twins. i didn't see them coming.

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part of a whole new line of tablets from dell. it's changing the conversation. ♪ welcome back to "the ed show." thanks for watching tonight. republicans lost latino voters by huge margins.

now the gop is making its first post-election play at winning some of those voters back. today republicans voted to limit legal immigration to this country and called it immigration reform. the stem jobs act passed in the house earlier 245-139. house republicans tried to pass a version of the bill a few months back and failed. why? because the s.t.e.m. act is a bad bill. the white house has voiced its opposition to it because it doesn't pave a way forward for millions of undocumented workers in this country who are already here and pits immigrant communities against one another. the s.t.e.m. act would provide green cards for immigrants skilled in science, technology, engineering and math. foreign nationals who have earned a ph.d. or master's in one of those fields from an american university can stay here and use their skills to improve the american workforce. sounds like a great idea, right? sure, but it does so at the expense of other immigrants. and as "the new york times"

points out, it eliminates another visa category entirely. the diversity visas set aside for people from countries with relytively low immigration rates to the united states. so the 55,000 s.t.e.m. visas would come at the expense of 55,000 diversity visas. that's a zero-sum game, folks. the elimination of diversity visas would primary affect immigrants from african countries. but despite the discriminatory nature of the bill, republicans insist, oh, it's going to create jobs and they're calling out the democrats' opposition to the legislation. >> once again, the house is taking the lead on legislation that is going to help create jobs. >> we believe as this was the first step forward in terms of trying to address the need for modernization in our visa laws. >> the democrats had two years to do something about immigration reform. they had a white house, they had

the house, they had the senate and they did nothing about immigration reform. >> joins us tonight, congressman xavier becerra of california. congressman, great to have you with us tonight. >> thanks, ed. >> you just heard mr. cantor say this is a step forward. do you agree with that? >> well, only for the tea party, perhaps. because we have a chance to do real sensible immigration reform working together on a bipartisan basis. republicans never reached out to democrats. they knew this was an inferior bill. they knew it pits immigrants as you said against each other. it really hurts immigrants or families who are of african ancestry who want to bring family members the right way from africa and also from eastern europe and they do it to no real benefit to the american people because america workers might be disadvantaged because there are no protections for american workers to make sure that these newly-authorized green cards for these very educated workers, which we do need, that the pay for those folks isn't undercutting the

salaries that current american workers get for those same kinds of jobs. >> so it creates as many problems as they think it solves. is there anything in this legislation that could be salvaged that you could agree with? >> well, there is a s.t.e.m. bill that we could pass. and what the democrats did today on the house floor is say, look, this is the bipartisan bill we can all agree to that doesn't play the zero-sum game, that doesn't undercut american workers when we do this. let's vote for that. i think the tea party is still driving the ship in the house republican conference. until that changes, it will be tough. but there are good folks on the republican side who are interested in trying to do a bipartisan bill. >> well, it's discriminatory, no question about that, because it's a zero-sum game. it hurts americans who are here and those who want to come here as well. and what is it about the african-american community in this world that the republicans don't want to allow into this country? >> well, you know, it's unfortunate because too often it's tough for a lot of families

who have relatives from africa to bring them here. those diversity visas, they're called diversity visas to make sure we diversify the base of people to come to this country. eastern europeans, folks from different african countries. the families have had a tough time getting those relatives here. you eliminate those 55,000 visa opportunities, it's almost impossible. >> sure. >> that's unfortunate. >> is there a little political theater here? you know, they're saying that they're getting something done while we're in the middle of this fiscal cliff fight. blaming the democrats for not doing it previously. >> and, ed, the worst part about this is, i don't think the high-tech community believes this is real. they would have been lobbying and asking a lot of us to vote for it. they didn't even come lobby us to do something to push this through because they knew it wasn't going to go anywhere. more than that, i think what is becoming clear is the latino community is no longer buying this kind of stuff. >> that's my next question.

will this win over anybody in the latino community? because, of course, the republicans have certainly taken a hit at the polls with that portion of society. 8 >> i can't see how it does. the latino community has grown accustomed to see republicans propose things like the arizona law, sb-1070. the proposals to deny children born in this country their citizenship even though they are born in this country. proposals to deny the opportunity to bring your family with you if you do it the right way. it's been tough. remember, republicans, i heard the piece where representative labrador said democrats had two years to try to do something. perhaps mr. labrador forgets we passed the dream act in the u.s. house of representatives. the senate had more than a majority vote. because republicans used the filibuster, we couldn't get the bill to the president for his signature. so democrats have done things. we're ready to do them again. we'll do them bipartisanly. >> congressman xavier becerra.

great to have you on "the ed show." thanks so much. coming up, bo obama's christmas video is making the rounds. how does it compare to his predecessor's? we'll check the tapes. stay tuned. want to try to crack it? yeah, that's the way to do it! now we need a little bit more... [ male announcer ] at humana, we understand the value of quality time and personal attention. which is why we are proud to partner with health care professionals who understand the difference that quality time with our members can make... that's a very nice cake! ohh! [ giggles ] [ male announcer ] humana thanks the physicians, nurses, hospitals, pharmacists and other health professionals who helped us achieve the highest average star rating among national medicare companies... and become the first and only national medicare advantage company to achieve a 5-star rating for a medicare plan... your efforts result in the quality of care and service we're able to provide...

which means better health outcomes... and more quality time to share with the ones who matter most. i love you, grandma! [ male announcer ] humana. ♪ we always love hearing from our viewers on twitter @edshow and our facebook page. many are still bad about louie gohmert's conspiracy theory saying president obama took out gadhafi so al qaeda could take over. on facebook, evelyn phillip says, to think someone like that is representing the people of this country, he needs to go. rick says republicans should have learned by now you cannot buy and lie your way into the white house. and julia leo say, every time i think gohmert could not be more ridiculous, he proves me wrong. keep sharing your thoughts with us on facebook and on twitter

using #edshow. still to come, fast food workers in the industry stage the industry's biggest strike. we'll take a look at what they're really fighting for in tonight's "big finish." stay with us. ♪ (announcer) when subaru owners look in the mirror, they see more than themselves. so we celebrate our year-end with the "share the love" event. get a great deal on a new subaru and 250 dollars goes to your choice of five charities. by the end of this, our fifth year, our total can reach almost 25 million dollars.

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welcome back to "the ed show." the holidays are fast approaching. in the spirit of the season, the white house released a video of the first dog. bo obama doing his part in the preparations. tis the season. bo was seen padding through the halls of the white house inspecting the decoration, coming face to face with a few bo lookalikes. simple fun stuff, don't you think? it's a far cry from the blockbuster days of barney bush. >> the president is counting on you. i don't want you pushing that soccer ball around while playing with those golf balls until everything is done. >> it's really difficult to judge where to hang this wreath. where should i hang this wreath? barney? barney? where's barney? >> i have to go back to work in

the oval office over here. i've got to job to do and so do you. i think it's time for you to quit playing and getting exercise and go in and do the job that the chief of staff told you to do. when somebody gives you a job, barney, and you agree to do it, you're supposed to do the job. >> barney? barney? >> barney, it's time for barney cam. are you ready for it this year? say, what's the plot about? i can see from the look on your face, barney, you haven't even thought about the plot. hey, barney, you better get started. and you better run along right now. >> i'm in. i'm in. i'm in. >> you've got to be kidding me. >> well, maybe better luck next year, margaret. look, i got to rehearse. can you help me out here? >> barney, you better wake up, fellow. there's a lot of work to do around here. we're sprinting to the finish. not napping to the finish. >> that's a cast of characters that definitely didn't have more important things to do or to deal with like a couple of war, a bad economy and some bad

acting. but barney never seemed to mind. you know what they say, if you want a friend in washington, get a dog. by the way, barney has always been my favorite bush. tonight in our survey, i asked you, who has the upper hand in the fiscal cliff negotiations? 98% of you say the president and 2% say the republicans. coming up, an unprecedented strike could change paychecks across the country. find out why these workers are so frustrated with fast food. stay with us. [ male announcer ] introducing the new dell xps 12.

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in "the big finish" tonight, an industry dominated by working moms just got a serious wake-up call. hundreds of workers walked off their jobs across new york city yesterday. this is an unprecedented strike by mostly nonunion workers. their target is the fast food industry. some people might think fast food employees are just teenage kids out there flipping burgers making minimum wage until something better comes along. not the case. median age of a fast food employee in this country is 28 years old. 66% of fast food employees are women. on average those women are 32 years of age or older. fast food is dominated by adult employees. most fast food workers are part time. managers keep them working under 40 hours per week. to avoid paying them full benefits. most make about $18,000 a year.

just above minimum wage. the workers in new york city are asking for a raise. they want $15 an hour. i can imagine some americans think it's a lot to ask when you're in a recession and millions of people don't even have jobs right now. they took a look at a number of different things across the country. but i want you to look at this report. a new report shows corporate profits just hit a record high. companies are making more money than they have ever made before. the workers are simply asking for a fair deal. >> it's just ridiculous that they're not willing to bargain or they're not willing to sit down and have a contract. >> your co-workers are the ones who are generating this money for you. so, please. $15 isn't a lot. give us a raise. >> right now we're living in poverty. these companies are making billions of dollars and we are not being appreciated for the work that we do, so they're giving us, like, $7.25, maybe $8. because of that it, most of these people, most of my

co-workers, actually have to rely on food stamps and other government help. >> more and more americans might need to rely on fast food wages. people at companies like sensata and hostess are getting laid off. fast food workers are demanding a better deal for everyone. reporter sara jaffe wrote this. cheap fast food and their cheap workers impose a cost on the country. in the form of food stamps. welfare through the tax code and social safety net programs. this is a place for government to intervene and for corporations to sacrifice some of their profits by raising wages to a livable level." reporter sara jaffe joins me tonight here on "the ed show." great to have you with us. excellent reporting. your analysis is spot on. do you think the strike was effective? and will it have an impact? >> i think it scared the heck out of the bosses. i mean, all the workers went back into work today. they were accompanied by elected officials. they were accompanied by clergy, community leaders.

and all but one were accepted back with no problems. one person, they attempted to fire her. there were about 100 people outside of the store within an hour. holding a rally. >> what do they want? do they want to go through what union? what do they want to do? >> they're forming an independent union. this was a drive started by "new york communities with change." they do community organizing and they were working on housing issues when they started talking to fast food workers. these are adults supporting families. i spoke to a woman with three kids supporting on $7.25 an hour from burger king. and they decided to start organizing. and you know what, they're doing a pretty good job. >> we just had a big discussion in this country about income inequality, and of course the corporate profits are out there. everybody knew corporate profits were through the roof before they reported again today. did this play into it? did this motivate these workers? >> i think everybody knows. the workers at walmart know it. everybody knows that corporations are doing just fine

and the rest of us are getting squeezed. >> what kind of impact do you think this could have nationally? >> imagine fast food workers across new york suddenly getting a raise to $15 an hour. this is literally lowest of the low-paying industries. that would be huge. it would be amazing. >> is there any indication that ownership or management of these franchises would move forward and do something for these workers? >> i mean, there's not an indication. mcdonald's, the franchisee doesn't set their and rules. the company gets to decide all the rules. they could decide to give workers a raise and set a huge example for the rest of the country. >> you know, back in the day, it was high school kids who were flipping burgers and waiting for the next big thing. i was really taken by the number of single moms and the age of the workers in this country. you think that is going to have a big impact on whether the companies decide to do something? >> i mean, this is the new economy, right? back in the day, factory jobss

weren't good jobs, either. they were also low-paying jobs. the reason they became the middle class jobs we know because people organized. >> sarah, what's the next move in this movement? is it a movement? >> oh, it's a movement. they are not giving up. they're going to keep working. i spoke to jonathan weston for new york community for change before coming here. and they are hoping that more workers got energized by seeing this happen and by seeing everybody go back in today and not face reprisal. >> the next phase you're hoping for is what? >> i'm hoping for more strikes, ed. >> you're hoping for more strikes? >> yeah. >> do you think the 99% movement had anything to do with this? >> i think it crystalized something that was already going on in this country that people knew about where the wealth was going, right? they knew over the last 30 years we've seen it go to people at the top, the people at the bottom are getting squeezed. their productivity has gone up. they're working hard, working longer.